For the last few years, Ben Gaudreau had dreamed of the scenario that became reality last Thursday (February 13th, 2020). Starting and winning an Ontario Hockey League game at his hometown rink, Memorial Gardens. He got to cross that off his bucket list in his very first attempt as he backstopped the Sarnia Sting to a 5-4 overtime win over the North Bay Battalion.
“It’s pretty awesome, we’re struggling to find wins right now so to be able to pull out a win on my home ice is great,” Gaudreau said after the game.
The Corbeil, Ontario native played right through the North Bay Trappers program from Triple A Bantam to his Midget year and has continued to craft his game now in Major Junior in Sarnia. Drafted in the first round (#7 overall) just this past April in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection, Gaudreau says, “even coming up to draft day I didn’t really have a 100% idea of where I was going. I had a pretty good idea I would be going in the first round, just not sure where. It was great once it was over to be honest because it is definitely stressful leading up to it.”
Gaudreau says he’s thankful and proud to be in the Sarnia organization. “I don’t think I could’ve ended up in a much better spot. The guys are great, the staff is great, it’s just an awesome place.”
The staff have worked diligently with Gaudreau ever since he arrived in Sarnia as he missed training camp due to an injury and had to work his way through that and eventually made his OHL debut on October 17th in Barrie, where he made 49 saves on 50 shots for not only his first career OHL win, but it gave the Sting a 5-1 victory which was their first of the 2019-2020 season, halting an 0-7-0 slide to begin the year.
“I was out for the first couple of weeks but once I got into game action it was awesome, and I really thank the medical staff for helping me out and helping me return. It’s hard (as a rookie) and I was pretty nervous getting into it. I was hoping to get at least one preseason game in but that didn’t happen. So, jumping right in and being down 0-7 with our record it was nerve-wracking going in, but at the end of the day I had nothing to lose and just tried to make the best out of it.”
In his first go-around in the OHL, Gaudreau is getting plenty of work with a 7-10-1-1 record (through Sunday, February 16th) and in 21 games played has made 635 saves on 714 shots. He says so far he has enjoyed the work load, “the season has been good for my development, I’m getting lots of shots and so hopefully next year is a year where I can come back bigger and stronger and continue where I left off. There’s been some highs and lows with the results of some of the games but at the end of the day it’s what you do after the fact and I think I’ve responded well after some tough starts.”
Gaudreau is trying to follow in the footsteps of recent North Bay area goaltenders who have signed with NHL clubs in the last few years such as Ken Appleby and Colton Point. It’s a game where nobodies path is the same.
Appleby played in just 18 games in his rookie season in the OHL with Oshawa before eventually earning the number one starters job in his third year and leading that team to a Memorial Cup championship and signing with the New Jersey Devils that following off-season and would go on to make his NHL debut on January 20th, 2018.
Point played for a year in the CCHL with Carleton Place before committing to Colgate University where he starred for the Raiders and played with Team Canada at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Buffalo. He was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the 5th round (128th overall) in 2016.
See related: The Colton Point Draft Experience (VIDEO)
Gaudreau’s draft year is coming up next June in 2021 and scouts will be following him closely during his second full season in the OHL. For a young goaltender, there are certainly no easy nights on the ice in the OHL but last Thursday was a night Gaudreau had circled on his calendar for a couple of weeks as he says he knew pretty early on he was going to get the start when the Sting rolled into North Bay, “it was pretty much known for a while that I was going to get the start but, pulling up to the rink there were a lot of childhood memories that started flooding through my head,” he says.
Gaudreau was given a rookie solo lap as the Sting came out for the pregame warmups, ahead of him making 28 saves on 32 shots in the 5-4 OT win. He was then greeted by a large contingent of friends and family after the game.“Growing up here and watching the Battalion, and then to come back and play against them is amazing.”
